Day Two
Day 2 at the Farmhouse has come and gone in a flurry of activity. The day commenced with a bracing round of yard work. How different it is to wheel a barrow in your own interest than that of someone else. The time passing gave ample space for reflection while work was being done. Looking at the English countryside evidence for the seeds that grew a worldwide empire is scarce and it is hard to imagine the youth scattered among the brick building marching down to the sea, filling the ships and sailing forth. Still, I had the same difficulty walking the streets of America where the worlds only superpower seems so self absorbed and unable to exert any concentrated effort. I think about the fall of the British Empire and realize they share a common fate with Rome. They became distracted from conquest by the discovery of something greater than themselves, Rome – Christianity, Britain the enlightenment. The became so absorbed in their new discoveries they scarcely seemed to notice as small portions of their empires were conquered or reclaimed. Is there a lesson for the future here?
Beyond contemplation for the future however are, as always, thoughts of the now. We worked to finalize wedding plans thought my mother still struggles with the amorphic spirituality Danaide and I share. She has a drive to guide and direct that clashes strongly with the independence of thought that Heather has learned.
We traveled to Church Stretton and to Craven Arms and to Ludlow. As I traveled I felt renewed freshness and eagerness to be in England and saw the spirit that brings me back. I saw also the nausea that accompanies any travel on the tortured roads of Shrewsbury as they writhe across the landscape.
One further source of intrigue is the dog here at the farm. Jake with the one blue eye. Does the grass that he tears and lays almost plaintively before the still mower have significance or are the religious overtones merely in my head?
Day 2 at the Farmhouse has come and gone in a flurry of activity. The day commenced with a bracing round of yard work. How different it is to wheel a barrow in your own interest than that of someone else. The time passing gave ample space for reflection while work was being done. Looking at the English countryside evidence for the seeds that grew a worldwide empire is scarce and it is hard to imagine the youth scattered among the brick building marching down to the sea, filling the ships and sailing forth. Still, I had the same difficulty walking the streets of America where the worlds only superpower seems so self absorbed and unable to exert any concentrated effort. I think about the fall of the British Empire and realize they share a common fate with Rome. They became distracted from conquest by the discovery of something greater than themselves, Rome – Christianity, Britain the enlightenment. The became so absorbed in their new discoveries they scarcely seemed to notice as small portions of their empires were conquered or reclaimed. Is there a lesson for the future here?
Beyond contemplation for the future however are, as always, thoughts of the now. We worked to finalize wedding plans thought my mother still struggles with the amorphic spirituality Danaide and I share. She has a drive to guide and direct that clashes strongly with the independence of thought that Heather has learned.
We traveled to Church Stretton and to Craven Arms and to Ludlow. As I traveled I felt renewed freshness and eagerness to be in England and saw the spirit that brings me back. I saw also the nausea that accompanies any travel on the tortured roads of Shrewsbury as they writhe across the landscape.
One further source of intrigue is the dog here at the farm. Jake with the one blue eye. Does the grass that he tears and lays almost plaintively before the still mower have significance or are the religious overtones merely in my head?
I envy your current visit to the Isles. It is a magic place.